Magical Girl Irene!
by Plantress
Summary: Random, cracky AU for my story Cleaning Duty


A/N: Okay this...thing...started over in a chatbox. I was talking about how I sometimes thing of Cleaning Duty as a shojo story. This lead to me thinking of magical girl stories, and then imaginig Irene as a magical girl. XD With a little prodding from SuzukaShin, I actually started writing it out. It wasn't suppose to be this long or this detailed, but once I started writing I couldn't stop. In the end I was just really stubborn about acutally finishing it, so here it is. I tried to slip in every random magcial girl cliche I could think of. XD It's crack, which is why Irene and Nicole are randomly in a Japanese highschool. This is not to be taken seriously and has nothing to do with the main story, it's just an amusing extra.

Irene is mine, but Nicole belongs to DaHaloChick. I just have permision to play with her.

*******

"Waaai! I'm going to be late!" Irene's screamed echoed around the large mansion she called home, accompanied by a sharp thud as she feel over while attempting to pull on her school uniform and shove her books in her bag at the same time. The young woman quickly scrambled to her feet, struggling to herself in order.

Okay, technically she wasn't late. At least not for the regular school start time, which is what she had set her alarm clock to go off for. But today was special, she had made a promise that she intended to keep. What would _he _think it if she broke her promise? This was her one chance to impress him!

She threw her door opens with a clatter and barely managed to shout an excuse me to the maid she startled as she tore down the hall. Down the stairs and into the kitchen. If she hurried, she could still get to school before people started coming in for classes.

Irene had just stopped long enough to grab a piece of toast when her brother walked.

"Irene…what are you doing?" he asked puzzled.

"I'm trying not to be late!" she half wailed. Her brother stiffened and quickly glanced at the clock on the all before relaxing.

"Irene, it's not that late," he said gently. "You have plenty of time until school starts."

"I know!" she said, "but I promised Sensei I would help before school gets started but now I'm not going to be able to do that because I'm going to be late because I forgot to set my alarm!" she managed to gasp out the sentence in one breath and her brother looked dumbfounded for a second before speaking.

"Well, ah, if it's that important to you, I could give you a ride. I have to head into the office early anyway," he said at last.

"Really?" Irene looked at him, startled, then gave him a very enthusiastic hug. "Thank you Nii-sama, you're the best!"

"Um, thanks…can we get going now?"

A few minuet later Irene waved goodbye to him at the school gates before hurrying inside, humming happily to herself as she hurried up to the school. Normally Nii-sama was gone by the time she left for school so she had never caught a ride with him before. It had shaved off a lot of time and she would be able to keep her promise with plenty of time to spare.

Her first stop would be the teachers offices to see if Sensei was there yet. On the way she stopped a familiar figure in the hall ahead of her.

"Nicole-sempai!" she called, running up to the older girl. "Good morning!"

"Morning Renie-chan," Nicole smiled as she slowed down a little. "You're here early."

"So are you Sempai," Irene said, "do you have club today?"

"Yes," Nicole sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Is something wrong?" Irene asked, a bit concerned for her friend. "I thought you liked being in the cooking club."

"Oh, I love the club," Nicole said looking up. "But today is one of those days where our meetings are at the exact same time as the Disciplinary committee meetings."

"What's so bad about that?" Irene couldn't think of what could be so bad, unless the cooking club had done something. But she didn't think Nicole would let them doing anything that would attracted the attention of the Disciplinary committee.

"It means _he _will be there today, and he always freaks out about how much noise where making! It's not our fault the home ec room is right next to the Disciplinary Committee room! He doesn't have to act like we're _trying _ to disturb him all the time! We aren't even being that loud!" It took Irene a few moments of sorting through Nicole's rage to realizes who _he was. _

"…You and Rune-sempai are still fighting?"

"Yes!" Nicole exploded, startling several of the other students in the hallway. "I swear, he _likes _tormenting me! If he has such a problem with the cooking club making noise, he should ask to have the committee headquarters moved! I can't do anything about it! We're cooking, not _trying_ to disturb his study time! Why is he even studying in the committee room anyway? A normal person would just study in the library right?" Nicole looked over at her and Irene just nodded in agreement.

"Yes.." she said as neutrally as she could. Nicole-sempai and Rune-sempai were in the same class and she was sure that even if their clubs weren't next to each other, they would still have found something to fight about. Last Irene remember they two of them fighting all the time, and other sempais had said it was the same when they were both first year. They just seemed to annoy each other a lot.

"But he's my problem. What about you, why are you here so early Renie-chan? Did you join a club and not tell me?"

Irene shook her head. "Nope. I just told Sensei that I would help him prepare for class." she couldn't help smiling a bit. Maybe this way he would start to think of her helpful and mature for her age. Then maybe he would start to think of her as more than a silly little student. Maybe then he would…

"Sensei?" Nicole said thoughtfully before she grinned slyly. "You wouldn't be talking about your dear Rhadamanthys-sensei would you?" Irene blushed furiously and Nicole burst out laughing. "I knew it! Well, good luck with him," she said, grining

"Good luck with Rune-sempai to you," Irene couldn't help but add. Nicole-sempai groaned soft.

"I'll need it," she said before she walked off. Irene giggled and set off down the hall. Now, maybe she had a chance to show Rhadamanthys-sensei what a reliable persons she was!

Suddenly her foot hit something on the ground, sending it skidding a few feet in front of her. Irene paused then walked over, curious what she had hit. It was a locket of some kind, she realized, as she picked it up off the ground. There was a very beautiful picture of a flower on the cover. It looks old, and very valuable. She glanced around, but no one looked as if they had just dropped something. She hadn't seen anyone with one like it before either.

A quick glance at the clock showed her that it was later than she thought it was. She shoved the locked into her bag, deciding to ask her classmates if they knew who it belonged too. It was unique enough that she was sure someone would be searching for it, and someone was bound to have heard about it.

After the bell signaling the end of classes had rung, Irene found herself on cleaning duty for the classroom. She didn't really mind the chore that much, although she knew some of her classmates hated it. Including some of the girls who were also suppose to be working with her today. When the bell had rung she had offered to clean the classroom by herself. She knew that if they had tried to help they would have bee hurrying since most of them had clubs to get to. Irene always ended up recleaning some things after they left and she had decided that she would rather skip that step. It wouldn't take to much longer to clean all of it on her own.

"Irene-san?" the voice was familiar. Irene couldn't help but smiling a little as she turned toward the speaker.

"Good afternoon Aiacos-sempai!" she said cheerfully. Aiacos smiled a little at her, then his eperssion turned serious.

"Why are you here all alone? Did everyone else skip out on you again?" he asked.

"Oh, no, I just told them I would do it myself" she replied. "It's faster this way!"

"Really?" Aiacos raised an eyebrow, "You aren't covering for them, are you? If they've skipped out then they have to face the consequences."

"They haven't," she sighed. "Honestly, would I really lie to you?"

"I suppose someone like you wouldn't," he answered smiling "but you really shouldn't let the take advantage of you like that Irene."

"They aren't!" she protested. "They just had clubs and wouldn't have done a good job anyway.."

"You. Are. Too. Kind." Aiacos said firmly. "Just make sure you don't them to this you to often, or the disciplinary committee will have to take action.

"Aiacos-sempai...I know you're part of the committee but you really don't have to get it involved in this," she said a little nervously.

"It's not just because of you Irene," he said loftily, "The duty of the disciplinary committee is to keep order in the school. Students skipping out on duties disrupts that order"

"Right..." Irene said, deciding to believe him for now, although she was sure there was more to this.

"Will you be all right here on your own?" he asked her. Irene nodded.

"Of course!" she said confidently.

"Are you sure?" Aiacos asked again. She just smiled.

"I'm fine sempai. Don't let me keep you here, I know you have duties to see too."

"...Fine. But don't overwork yourself."

"I promise I won't"

Aiacos heaved a sigh and turned to leave. "Take care Irene-san," he said aloud.

"You too Sempai!" Irene called after him. She waved at him as he walked out the door, then turned back to her work, humming slightly.

As she turned around, her broom hit the edge of her desk. Her bag slid off the top of it and fell to the floor, falling open and scattering her things everywhere.

"Oh no!" Irene dropped to her knees and started to gather everything up. She sighed to herself as she looked around to make sure she had gotten everything. As she shifted her fingers hit something laying near her knee. She looked down to find the locket she had found earlier. "I forgot all about you.." she said picking it up. Today she had really meant to see what it had belonged to, but she must have gotten distracted.

"It really is pretty," she said softly tracing the flower on the front. It looked valuable and she was sure whoever had dropped it was missing it. Maybe she should turn it into the office or give it to Rhadamanthys-sensei to see if he could find it…but she didn't want to embarrass whoever had dropped something so valuable either.

She eyes the clasp on the side. It was a locket after all. Maybe it had pictures or something inside of it that could tell her who it belonged to. The owner might even have put something inside it with a name or phone number she could call. It's what she would have done. Still…it felt almost like an invasion of privacy to do something like that. But she really didn't mean anything by it. All she was going to do was give a quick look then, if nothing was there, she would take it to Rhadamanthys-sensei. Trying to be gentle ,she cracked open the amulet.

Bright pink light shot out through the tiny opening she had made. Irene squeaked in surprise and dropped the locket. It popped open when it hit the ground, unleashing a beam of pink light that shot up toward the ceiling. A shadow appeared in the center of the beam at eye level. Irene couldn't tear her eyes away as the shadow slowly become more solid and before to form into something visible. Finally the thing in the center solidified into a tiny curled figure with butterfly wings. The light slowly faded, and Irene watched as the figure uncoiled.

"Hmmm!" The figure uncurled and stretched, then opened it's eyes. It…_he_..looked around. Irene stared at him as he suddenly caught sight of her. He gave her an intense look then suddenly pointed and said as dramatically as he could in his high pitched voice. "You! You are the Chosen Warrior!"

"Wh..what?" Irene squeaked, wondering if she had fallen asleep in class somehow. That was something she normally didn't do but she hadn't really slept well last night. She pinched herself just to make sure, and bit her lip to keep from yelp. That had hurt. A lot.

"What are you doing? This isn't a dream!" the tiny creature protested. "I am Butterfly Fairy Myu, and you are the Chosen Warrior who will help free King Hades!"

"Um, if this isn't a dream, then I'm talking to a little pink fairy that came out of a locket. I think people who do that end up in padded rooms," Irene said, wondering if exam pressure had started to get to her and she had gone crazy.

"You aren't insane!" Myu protested. "You're the warrior who is destined to protect this world from evil!"

"…That doesn't really help," Irene sighed. "If I was insane or imagining things, I would want myself to be a hero, right?"

"You're perfectly sane!" Myu insisted, fluttering down to point at the locket. "I was sealed away in that magical locket to away someone with the power to free me and become the chosen warrior who would be able to help defend the world against the darkness!"

"But that makes no sense!" Irene protested. "I just picked it up off the ground! Anyone could have found it!"

"Ah!" Myu held up a finger triumphantly. "You picked it up because you were fated too! Even if someone else had picked it up, they would never have been able to like you could. Lord Hypnos' spell would have made sure of that."

"Lord Hypnos?" she asked, puzzled. "Who are you talking about?"

"Lord Hypnos is one of the great magicians that stood by King Hades," Myu said in a tone of voice that said it should have been obvious.

"King Hades? Why do you keep talking about people I don't know?" Irene demanded. my flew down and perched on her knee.

"King Hades is the person you have to find a free," the little fairy explained. He cleared this throat before he started speaking, using the same dramatic tone he had been using earlier. "Hundreds of years ago there existed two rulers. King Hades, who wanted peace for the world, and the Evil Witch Queen Athena who wanted war. One day she attacked us and there was a great battle. King Hades and Evil Queen Athena faced each other in a duel that seemed to last forever. At least the dust from their battle cleared and it was to our sorrow we found that Queen Athena had used her dark power to seal King Hades away, but we could find no sign of Queen Athena. We assumed that the act of sealing away the King had cost her life."

"But if she's gone why do you need me?" Irene asked, wondering why she was still here. Talking fairies couldn't exist like this!

"Because she's not gone!" Myu declared, fluttering up a few inches. "Lord Hypnos realized she wasn't really dead. Sealing King Hades had just taken so much of her powers that she had been forced into hiding in order to recover her strength. That was why I was sealed away, in order to wait for the time when she would return," Myu pointed at her. "That you found me means that time is now. You must get ready to battle, warrior! Without you, the world is doomed."

"That's a really nice story, but I'm not sure I believe in stories about Evil Witch Queens. Even when a fairy tells them," Irene said, eyeing Myu. She still wasn't sure what to make of him, but at least he was _here. _It was hard to believe in well…fairy tales when there wasn't proof of them.

"Besides, even if it is true, I don't think I'm the one you're looking for."

"yes you are!" Myu said fluttering back up to her eye level. "You opened the locket! You're the chosen warrior!"

"But I'm not…!" An explosion from outside distracted her and she turned toward the windows. She had just enough time to wonder what was going on before the screams started.

"That doesn't sound good!" Myu muttered and flew over to the window. Irene rushed over to join him. When she looked outside, she screamed.

"Wh..what is that thing!?" she half shrieked. There was a monster in the courtyard. It was purple with a white mane on it's snake-like head. It's arms were even more horrible, they looked like the really were snakes that keep bending and twisting as the monster laughed. Students down there were panicking, some running toward the building, some frozen staring at the creatures.

"This isn't good," Myu muttered. "That's one of Queen Athena's monsters."

"What?" Irene turned to him in shock. But before he could say anything, there was a another screech from the courtyard. They both turned to look as the monster attacked again. It wielded it's arms like whips, knocking students to the ground. Irene watched in horror as the monster seemed to pause, it's head turning towards one of the students who had managed to stand. The monster smiled...and one of his arms darted forward, sinking it's fangs into the boy's shoulder. Irene heard herself scream and watched in horror as a light blue mist appeared around the student, then flowed into the snake that attached to him. He went pale as the mist left him, and flopped to the ground limply when the monster finally released him.

Irene stumbled backwards, her hand over her mouth. "Oh, god.." she whispered, horrified.

"He isn't dead," Myu said suddenly, stalling the thoughts that has been forming in her mind. Irene looked over at him as he fluttered over to her shoulder. "That thing just drained all his energy. That's what Queen Athena does. She needs more energy to regain her full powers, so she steals it from other people."

"B..but why here? Why now?" Irene whispered, shaking. "Why send that horrible thing to a school"

Myu became very serious. "I'm afraid that it's here because of you," he said.

"What..? That can't be true!" Irene clenched one hand in the fabric of her skirt. "I..I don't have anything to do with it! I've never seen that thing before! It have nothing to do with it!"

"You opened the locket," Myu said solemnly. "I should have thought of that earlier. Why you did that, it must have released a burst of magical energy. It must have been like a flare telling her that something had happened here."

"The...locket?" Irene rushes over to where she had left the amulet and scooped it up. "Then if i give it to him, he'll stop!"

"No!" Myu yelled as she started toward the door. "Its not that simple! Even if you give him the amulet, it won't stop him. He'll just kill you then continue draining the school dry!"

"Then what am I suppose to do?" Irene clenched her hands around the amulet. "It's my fault people are getting hurt out there!"

"The only way to stop that creature is for you to fight it!" Myu said exited. "If you use that locket, you can defeat him."

"I can't fight him!" Irene protested. "You just said he could kill me! I can't fight!"

"The power in the locket will give you the ability to win!" Myu insisted. "Just hold it up and say 'Underworld Shining Blossom Make-up'!"

"That sound so stupid! I can't do it! I just can't!" Irene half yelled, scared. Seeing that thing from far away was one thing. But she was terrified of getting close to it. What if she got drained too.

"You have to!" Myu said. "You're the only one that can do this. If you don't do this, that creature will hunt down everyone in this school! Do you really want that?"

"No..b..but..." she was scared, terrified even but this was her fault. If that thing was here because of what she did, she couldn't run away. If she did, everyone, Nicole-Sempai, Aiacos-Sempai, Rune-Sempai,...Rhadamanthys-sensei even and everyone else would pay for it. She was shaking slightly when she looked back up at the butterfly fair. "H..how do I stop it?"

"You'll have to defeat it," Myu said. "The locket will make you strong enough to do that."

"Are you sure?" Irene gazed doubtfully down at the small locket in her hand. It was very pretty yes, but it didn't look in the least bit magical. Even after seeing my come out of it she wasn't sure she could see it as that.

"Yes! don't worry, I'll be right there with you," the little fairy said. "Now say the words."

"That does exactly fill me with confidence," Irene mumbled but took a deep breath to calm her shaking as she grasped the amulet tighter. "Let see...Underworld Shining Blossom Make-up?" Before she could even register how stupid she sounded saying it out loud, there was explosion of light from the amulet that blinded her and she spent a breathless minuet feeling as if she were falling and twisting, and then suddenly she blinked as her vision.  
"Whoa..!" she tottered, trying to get her balance back. As she grabbed at the edge of a desk to keep from falling she suddenly noticed she was wearing gloves. Light purple gloves with ribbons attached. As she followed the ribbons up her arm, she suddenly realized she wasn't even wearing her school uniform anymore. Instead she was wearing a fantastic costume that was entirely light purple and green. One with boots. "Eh...EH? MYU!" She glanced over at the butterfly fairy frantically, only to find him hovering calmly as he gave her an approving look.

"Yep, you're the one all right. You look good like that!" he said.

"Look good!? I thought I was suppose to be a warrior, not a cheerleader!" she shouted.

"You are a warrior!" Myu protested. "You're now Sailor Orchid, the warrior of love and justice who can cleanse someone of all evil within them!"

"Sailor...Orchid?" Irene gave him a flat look. "How is that even suppose to sound menacing?"

"That doesn't matter!" Myu said. "Now that you're Sailor Orchid, you can get rid of that thing!"

"But _how!?_" Irene looked down at her new outfit. "I look like a cheerleader, not a warrior!"

"There's no time to worry about that! Just come on!"

Irene found herself being dragged out of the room by Myu would was surprisingly strong for being able to fit on the palm of her hand. Luckily, most people seemed to be to panicking or looking out the windows to pay attention to the strangely dressed girl who had a fairy tugging her along by the collar. Irene wasn't sure she was glad that she wasn't going to be emrassed by this or not.

Myu tugged her through an open door, and she found herself blinking in the sunlight. They were standing on one of the outside, at the top of a set of stairs that lead down to the courtyard. She had forgotten there was an outside exit until now. She swallowed. It as one thing to feel brave while watching the monster from an upstairs window, when she was a safefly behind walls and it was outside. Now, without even that, she felt exposed and realized if that thing got a hold of her, it would _hurt_. She started shaking.

"Myu, I don't think I can.." she started to stay.

"Hey! You! Over there ugly!" the fairy yelled, ignoring her. Irene went pale as the creature swung it's head around to face them.

"Hmmm?" It hissed, squinting up at them. "Who ssssaid that? Who daressss to call Hydra Ichi _ugly!?_"

"We do, idiot!" Myu shouted, the dodged behind Irene. The monster's eyes focused on her and Irene swallowed, shaking.

"Who are you!?" the monster demanded.

"I..I.." Irene stammered. She wasn't sure what she had intended to say. But suddenly a burst of confidence ran through her. She was speaking before she even knew what words she was going to say. "I should be the one asking that! How dare you cause chaos in a place of learn! That you dare harm those who are going home to relax after a long, hard, day of studying is something that I cannot forgive! I am Sailor Orchid and in the name of the underworld, I will cleanse all evil from your soul!" She ended her speech pointing dramatically at the monster…then froze as she realized what she was done. "W..why the heck did I say that!?" she yelped, glancing back at Myu. The fairy shrugged.

"It's part of the magic, you'll get use to it. Now..JUMP!" Myu yelled and pointed in front of them. Irene turned to see what he was pointing out the yelped and did as he said, jumping just as the monster's snake arms slammed into the step she has just been standing on. It shattered and she swallowed as she landed lightly in the courtyard. It was only after she landed that she realized how far she had actually jumped.

"How did I do that!?" she said in shock.

"I told you that the locket would turn you into a warrior!" Myu said excitedly. "Now just focus on defeating Hyrda, Sailor Orchid! You have the power to be able to do that!"

"R..right…" Irene muttered as the monster whirled around to face her. She was forced to dodge again when he lunged for her. He missed again, but now her heart was hammer. How was she suppose to be able to defeat him? She hadn't even thrown a punch at someone before! Even if the transformation had given her power to, she wasn't sure she could actually hurt that monster. She as dodging his blows as she said this, amazed at how light and strong her body felt. Maybe…just maybe she could do this after all.

"Myu!" she yelled as she jumped over yet another strike. "What do I do now?"

"You'll have to use your attack!" he answered, hovering a good few feet over her head.

"What attack?" she yelled back, barely dodging out of the way as the snake heads clammed into the ground.

"Hold ssstill!" Hydra Ichi hissed. "Sssstop running around and sssstop ignoring me!"

Irene ducked then give a small yell as a window broke and glasses rained down on her, as she ran.

"What attack Myu!?"

"Umm…you need your wand!" Myu hovered agitatedly. "It's connected to the outtift, you should be able to get hold of if you concentrate!"

"How am I suppose to concentrate when I'm trying not to die!" Irene stopped for just a split second to yell at Myu. She realize her mistake when the hiss from the snake hands sounded close. Startled and not knowing what else to do, she jumped straight up.

The all might crash the echoed from where she had just been standing made her look down in confusion. She had known in the back of her mind that there was construction being done on one of the back wall surrounding the school. The construction company had left a large pile of concrete blocks in one corner of the courtyard. She hadn't realized she had been standing in front of it, but her dodge had caused the monster to strike it, and the pile had come down, pinning his arms underneath it. She landed lightly on top of the pile slightly stunned.

"Sailor Orchid!" Myu shouted, fluttering down to her. "Don't space out now. Call the wand, call the wand!"

"How do I do that!?" she snapped, watching the monster struggle to free it's arms.

"Just concentrate!" Myu said waving his little arms. "It will come to you!"

"Concentrate on what!?" she half shrieked back.

"The locket!" Myu snapped back, "concentrate on the locket! Let it grant you more power!"

"Myu, this really isn….!"

"Just do it!" the fairy yelled.

"Fine!" Irene snapped, trying to remember what she had done when she had first transformed. She pictured the locket in her mind, but nothing happened. "Myu!" she said, half hysterical as she felt the Hydra-monster trying to free it's arms. "It's not working!"

"Calm down!" Myu hovered in front of her. "Just try to remember what it felt like when you first transformed!"

"When I transformed…?" Irene felt her eyes flicker closed and tried to remember that feel when she had first spoken the transformation phrase. The power and warmth that had flooded through her, the feeling of flying and the..

"Sailor Orchid!" her eyes snapped open at Myu's shout. Light was spilling from her locket again, and it was project a long slender rod in front of her. She gaped in shock as the light faded, leaving an object in midair. "Grab it," Myu half shouted as the rod started to fall. Irene let out a sqeak and managed to lunge forward and catch the wand before it feel. Once she was sure she had a good grip on it, she looked it over a little more carefully.

It was a good two feet in length, the majority of which was a long slender, light purple rod that had pretty green vines wrapped around it. At the end the arched up to round a delicate looking crystal.

"Umm…what am I suppose to do with it now?" she turned to look at Myu, who pointed at the monster.

"Point it at him," he instructed, "then say the first words that come to mind!"

Irene pointed the want at the monster, but then she paused as she watched the hydra monster struggled to free itself. "Myu, the words that come to mind aren't helpfully and they really aren't something a lady should be saying," she said aloud.

"That's not what I'm talking about!" Myu's wings were fluttering so rapidly that Irene could actually feel a slight breeze from them. "Do what you did just now! Think of how it felt to use the power of Sailor Orchid!" Before Irene could or even start to follow his instructions there was a loud snapping noise. Both of them looked over just as the monster's arms snapped in half. As they both stared in shock, the portion of it's arms that had been trapped under the bricks vanished and Irene was forced to find her footing again as the bricks themselves shifted.

"Wh..what's going on?" she s squeaked.

"This isn't good!" Myu said worriedly, looking very serious, "when it feels threatened or trapped, some lizards will drop their tails in order to escape."

"Then…this is a good thing, right? He's going to run away now?" Irene dearly hoped that was the case. She wanted this to be over, for this to be a dream she could forget about.

"No! Look!" Myu pointed at the monster. Irene watched with horrified fascination as the now blunt end of his arms seemed to bubble and seethe. "This monster is based on the Hydra of legend…" heads burst from the ends of the monsters' arms again, only this time two heads were present on each one, "so every time he looses ahead, he grows two in it's place." Myu finished.

"B..but then how I am I suppose to defeated him!?" Irene clutched the want to her tightly, wondering what insane part of her mind had though she could actually do this.

"You'll have to get rid of the main head!" Myu declared. Irene looked over at the nearly human head and swallowed.

"But it's all the way over there!" she protested. Everything else she wanted to saw she was forced to swallow as the now recovered Hydra attacked her again and it was backed to dodging his attacks. Only this time, she barely had time to breath. Four heads were tougher than two and she kept getting barely getting out the way of the fangs that left her with a scratch for each near miss.

"Sailor Orchid, attack him!" Myu shouted from up in the sky. "You can't run forever!"

"I can't!" she shrieked. "I can't do this Myu!"

"Yes you can, you just have to…Look out!"

Irene heard his shout, but there was little she could do to react as her foot landed on the edge of a loose brick from the pile and she stumbled. It took her only a second to regain her balance but it was enough to cost her. Even as she turned to try and avoid it, one of the snake heads caught her a glancing blow. It hit her harder than she thought possible and she went flying. Pain shot through her as she hit the ground had, rolling a little with the impact until she finally slid to a stop.

Her body hurt. She was sore, the cuts and bruises from the recent fall on top of the ones from the rest of the fight. She was sore, gasping since the impact had driven the breath form her and her stomach ached where the snake had hit it. The monster advanced toward her, his heads hissing and growling. A small whimper of fear escaped her and she kept hoping this would turn out to be nothing more than a bad dream.

"Not so tough now are you, you little brat?" Hydra hissed, his arms coming up as they prepared to strike. "I hope you aren't too worn out! You're energy will make a good gift for Queen Athena," he seemed to smirk, "now, good bye Sailor Orchid!"

Irene threw her arm up in a futile attempt to ward off the heads as her eyes slammed close. A pained scream that wasn't her own startled her and she opened her eyes. There, a foot in front of her, were the snake heads, each one pinned to the ground by a long black feather that had pierced all the way through it.

"What..?"

"Sailor Orchid, up there!" Myu pointed toward the top of the school building. Irene followed his gaze, and felt her breath catch. There was a tall figure in a black cloak looking down at them.

"Who dares to interfere in my fight!?" Hydra growled. In answer the figured tensed, then jumped off the building to land a few feet from them. Up close the cloak looked as it were made of feathers. Whoever had helped her was wearing a slightly menacing black mask over the upper part of his face. She swallowed, wondering if it was really a good thing he had helped her.

"I," the stranger said, "am called Garuda Mask. You, foul monster, don't belong here!" Hydra growled, but Garuda Mask ignored him, turning his face towards her instead. "Destroy him now Sailor Orchid!"

"B..but, I can't!" she said, drawing herself up as best she could, "I don't know that I'm suppose to do!"

"You can," Garuda Mask told her confidently, "you have survived this long. There was a reason you were chosen to lead this fight. Even if you do not see it in yourself, rest assured there are others that know you are capable of this. Don't let self doubt defeat you now. Stand up! Protect those that are important to you!"

For some reason his words brought back a bit of confidence. Irene stayed silent for a few seconds, then nodded and climbed to her feet, the wand clenched close to her.

"Take him out now, while you have an opening!" Garuda Mask said. For a second Irene hesitated, not sure what she was suppose to do. Then she remembered Myu's advice, and what it had felt like when she had first called forth the wand. She closed her eyes, and concentrated on that warm feeling, words coming unbidden to her mind.

"SHINGING…ORCHID…SPARKLING…BLAST!" she shouted as her eyes snapped open. Light pink light raced along the vines, and a beam of swirling light burst from the end of the wand. There was an explosion of light, and then a deafening silence. It was broken by hysterical laughter. Irene felt her heart drop as the light faded to reveal a completely untouched Hydra surrounded by small floating sparkles.

"W…what was that suppose to be!?" he laughed, "were you trying to tickle me to death?"

"..I knew I couldn't do it.." Irene mumbled.

"Just wait," Myu said, fluttering to her side, "you'll see!"

"I guess the great Sailor Orchid wasn't so gre…" Hydra sneezed in the middle of the sentence. He stop, puzzled. "isn't so great.." another sneeze interrupted him. Irene stared as he started sneezing rapidly.

"Myu…" Irene said, "what's going on?"

"I said to watch and wait, didn't I?" Myu said proudly, "he's already finished!" Irene turned back to see that with each successive sneeze cracks appeared on Hydra, pink light spilling from within him. As she froze in complete and utter disbelief, the monster gave one final sneeze, a flash of light went off, and the monster seemed to explode into a cloud of glittering sparkles. All that was left was a small bronze star that hovered in the middle of the mess for a second then fell to the ground, vanishing with a small pop as it hit.

An almost deafening silence filled the courtyard for a few minuets as the wind chased a few stray leaves across. "Myu," Irene said at least as she finally managed to find her voice again, "is my attack suppose to make enemies sneeze themselves to death?"

"Well, more or less," the little fairy admitted.

"That's one of the stupidest things I've ever heard!" Irene said. Myu gave her an offended look.

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" he said.

"Good job Sailor Orchid," Garuda Mask said, stopping her before she could say anything else, "you saved everyone. Destroying that monster has released all the energy it gathered. Everyone is starting to wake up." When Irene check around her she realized it was true.

"See? I told you that you could it! You're a hero!" Myu declared proudly.

"I am..?" Irene said startled, and Myu nodded in reply, beaming at her. She looked down at the want she still held, realizing for the firs time what she had done. Maybe..maybe she could do this hero thing after all.

*******

"..and that was when I woke up," Irene finished, sweeping her broom lightly across the floor as she spoke. "It was a really weird one too! What do you think it could mean, Lord Aiacos?" she looked up at the Judge expectantly.

Aiacos had been busy trying to keep a look of disbelief and amusement off his face. "_Garuda _Mask?" he muttered mostly to himself before he realized she had asked him a question. "Why do you think I would know?" he asked in return.

"Don't you work under the god that controls sleep?" Irene said, as if it were obvious. Aiacos sighed.

"Technically, yes. But Lord Hypnos and the Dream Gods don't socialize with the rest of us. I'm as much in the dark as you are on this," he answered.

"Oh," Irene went back to cleaning, "do you think they decided to mess with random people?"

"That's a possibility, but I think there's something else at work here," Aiacos said, thoughtfully.

"What would that be?" Irene stopped sweep long enough to look up at him. She froze as Aiacos place his hands on her shoulders and leaned close to her.

"Listen to me closely, Irene," he said and she nodded nervously, feeling a slight heat rise in her cheeks. "….Go to be early tonight," Aiacos grinned then let go of her.

"Wh..what?" Irene gave him a very confused look.

"The dream gods wouldn't bother with a mere servant," Aiacos said lazily, "you're probably just having weird dreams since you've been working to hard and not getting enough sleep. Get some rest and you'll stop having them."

"You really think it will be that easy?"

"Worth a shot isn't it?" he sounded amused. "Treat it as an order if you want, but just take it easy tonight."

"Fine," she sighed, "although I'm not sure it will help."

"Just do it."

"I said I would!"

Aiacos laughed and started to walk away.

"Lord Aiacos!" Irene called, " thanks for listening!"

He paused and turned to look back at her, his gaze softening for a fraction of a second. "Well, I didn't have anything else to do," he said. "besides, talking to you is always…interesting."

"What do you mean by _that_?" Irene demanded but Lord Aiacos had already walked away. She shook her head and went back to cleaning, feeling a little better. Talking to Lord Aiacos had helped. She just wished she knew why him being so close had made her heart race like that.


End file.
